How It All Came To Be
by ellw0721
Summary: Natalie Ambrose has just moved to Rosewood with her family, to escape a dark past and secret. What will she do when the Liars' secrets unfold?
1. Chapter 1

The moving truck had just pulled into the driveway when the phone started ringing.

Natalie Ambrose stood up, placed her iPhone and headset on the coffee table, and bent over to answer it.

"Hello?" Natalie asked cautiously. Today was her first day living in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, a picturesque suburb about twenty miles from Philadelphia.

"Hello. My name is Veronica Hastings, is your mother or father home?" a woman's crisp, tight voice rang out on the other end. The name _Hastings _sounded familiar to Natalie, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Natalie's mother was currently sight seeing with Natalie's older sister, Olivia. Her father was at Rosewood Day, a private school that Natalie and Olivia would be attending the day after tomorrow. "I'm sorry, can I take a message?"

The woman paused for a brief moment. "Just tell them to call me back when they get a chance. Thanks."

Veronica Hastings hung up, leaving Natalie confused. What did that woman want? And why was she calling her house, she had just moved in this morning.

The house her parents had chosen last Spring had taken a while to renovate. The house was a large, red-brick, Victorian mansion, with white and black shingles and a large wrap-around porch. Natalie's room was on the third floor, the first door on the left. She took the stairs two at time, not stopping until she slammed her bedroom door shut. The room was painted sky-blue, and Natalie's queen-size bed was pushed to the far left side, facing Natalie's walk-in closet and vanity. Her desk sat next to her bed, a bookshelf crammed with books sat on the other side, and her window-seat was already covered with hot-pink, purple, and yellow plush pillows.

Natalie flopped down on the seat at the vanity. She was thirteen years old, which meant she would be an eighth grader at Rosewood Day. Rosewood was the typical, suburb town, full of gossip and secrets and cliques. Natalie stared at herself in the vanity mirror. She had wavy, glossy, blonde hair, round, pale green eyes, and freckles across the bridge of her nose.

She pulled out the drawer of the vanity, taking out a hairbrush, a tube of lip gloss, and a bottle of mascara. Natalie took out her ponytail, letting her wavy hair fall down her back. She gently brushed her hair, applied the mascara evenly on both sets of lashes, and ran the shiny gloss across her bow shaped lips.

Before she left, she changed into a pair of J Crew denim shorts, a bright pink tank top, and a pair of silver wedges Olivia gave to Natalie when she out-grew them. Natalie descended down the long staircase, grabbed her phone, and headed outside. The weather was warm, for September, and the sun accentuated everything Natalie loved most about her outward appearance. The highlights in her honey-blonde hair, the flecks of gold in her green eyes, and Natalie's summer tan.

Natalie walked down the rest of the Maplewood lane, and turned onto the street that led into town. Rosewood looked like the charming, happy-go-lucky town that everyone thought it was on the outside, but it hid a dark secret that only few knew about. Only a few months ago, Alison DiLaurentis had gone missing.

Natalie stopped a cafe, called _The Brew, _to order some donuts and a cup of hot chocolate. Natalie was so hungry because she'd missed breakfast. She was unpacking.

Natalie waited patiently in line behind a girl that looked to be her age. The girl had reddish-blonde hair and an athletic built. She was taller than Natalie, but she looked scared, as if she knew a dark secret.

Natalie tapped the girl on the shoulder. "Hi."

The girl widened her hazel eyes, and blushed, revealing a lot of freckles on her sun-kissed face. "Uh, hi. Are you new?"

"Yeah, I just moved here this morning. My name's Natalie Ambrose." Natalie said.

The girl smiled. "I'm Emily. Nice to meet you. Do you know what school you're going to yet?" Emily moved up a place in line, her gaze still focused on Natalie.

"Rosewood Day." Natalie answered.

"Same." Emily grinned.

Natalie let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad I'll know someone there."

Emily opened her mouth to say something, but she realized it was her turn to order. She ordered a double mocha latte, left a dollar in the tip jar, and went to go find a seat. Natalie quickly ordered a glazed donut and hot chocolate and turned to leave, but she noticed Emily sitting all alone in a booth, waving her over to join her. Natalie couldn't say no, especially when she didn't know anyone else.

Natalie slid into the booth across from Emily, who was quietly sipping her latte. "So what's Rosewood Day like?"

Emily looked up at Natalie and shrugged. "I don't really know."

"What do you mean, you go to school there." Natalie said.

"Well, it'll be different this year, that's all." Emily said. She gazed down at her latte, her face red, and her eyes filling up with tears.

"Emily, what's wrong?" Natalie asked concerned.

Emily looked up, and a tear rolled down her cheek. She stood up, grabbed her latte, and left the shop. Natalie watched through the window as Emily ran down the sidewalk and disappeared from sight.

Why was she acting so weird? Was something bothering Emily, something she didn't want to tell anyone? Or was Emily usually this panicky, wide-eyed, and stressed.

Natalie decided to leave too. There was no use staying, when her one and only friend had bailed.


	2. Chapter 2: You better watch out

The next day was the worst day of Natalie's life.

Apparently, Veronica Hastings was hosting a big welcome party for Natalie's family. She was inviting all of Rosewood to attend. It was going to be held at the Hastings' house that night.

Mrs. Ambrose took Natalie and Olivia shopping earlier that afternoon for formal dresses for the party and back to school clothes.

Mrs. Ambrose pulled into The King James Mall parking lot and led them into a fancy department store. Mrs. Ambrose started talking to teenage girl with shiny, chestnut brown hair pulled back into a sleek, ponytail, and told Natalie and Olivia to start looking for dresses. Olivia quickly ran off, leaving Natalie to roam around the store alone.

The store was called _Nicole's_, and smelled like Chanel perfume and vanilla laundry detergent. Natalie immediately found a cute, coral dress hanging on one of the racks, and lunged for it. But Natalie wasn't the only one who thought the dress was cute.

A tall girl, with dirty, blonde hair, and emerald green eyes grabbed the dress , with her french manicured fingers before Natalie could reach it. Natalie sighed, it was the last one in her size.

The girl smiled deviously. Natalie couldn't believe they were the same size. The girl was taller, and more filled in than Natalie was.

The girl checked the tag on the dress, and her face turned bright red. "Here, you can have it. It's not my size."

Natalie checked. It was a zero. The girl grabbed the next size up, a two.

"Sorry about that." The girl's cheeks were burning, and her face was pinched up.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Natalie said. Natalie was embarrassed all the time at her old school. She knew what it felt like.

"I'm Spencer, Spencer Hastings." the girl said, turning back around.

Natalie gasped. Spencer probably needed the dress tonight too, for the party her mother was throwing. Natalie put the dress back on the rack. "I'm Natalie. Your mother is throwing a party for my family tonight."

Spencer nodded. "I know. My mom can't shut up about it, it's the only thing she talked about at dinner last night. The only reason I came to the mall today was to get away from her nagging. _'Spencer, clean your room, we're having guests over tonight.' 'Make sure to mop the living room three times, we want it to look good for the guests.' _I mean, it's just so annoying."

"I'm here to buy a dress for the party tonight. I don't even need one, I have tons at home." Natalie said, staring at a loose thread on Spencer's kelly green cardigan. "I don't even want to really go tonight."

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Me neither, my mom's making me. It's crazy."

"Yeah." Natalie thought back to what happened with Emily at the coffee shop yesterday. She didn't want that to happen with everyone she met. Spencer seemed cool, though. Maybe she would stick by her the whole time. Natalie smiled at the thought of it.

Spencer checked her watch. "Anyways, it was nice meeting you. I hope you have luck finding a dress."

Natalie smiled. "I'll see you at the party tonight."

Spencer grinned, and turned around, walking through _Nicole's _double doors. Spencer turned back to the store, but wasn't looking at Natalie. She was staring at something in the distance. Spencer narrowed her eyes, frowned, and shook her head. Natalie wondered what Spencer saw. She turned to the direction Spencer was staring, but all she could see were racks and racks of clothes.

In between the racks was a girl with long, blonde hair, clear, blue eyes, and glowing skin. She was sorting through racks of t-shirts. She turned to Natalie and gave her a wink, turned around and walked through the doors, going the opposite direction as Spencer.

Natalie blinked a few times. Was that…no it couldn't be. Natalie hadn't see her in years. The last time Natalie saw her was the last day of second grade, and then the family just, disappeared. Was't that the point of leaving her old life behind? Her school, her friends, her home. All of it. Because of her.

Natalie shook her head violently, trying to block out the memory, but it wouldn't leave. It was too imprinted in her head. Natalie grabbed a strapless, lavender cocktail dress from the various racks of dresses and met her mother at the register. Mrs. Ambrose had a tight smile as she paid for the dresses, her gray eyes hiding a sick secret, that only Natalie's family knew about.

And they intended to keep it that way.


	3. Chapter 3: Nothing Is Ever As It Seems

Natalie's father turned sharply into Spencer's driveway. It was a large farmhouse, with a hot tub, and a huge barn in the backyard. Natalie's family slowly emerged into the party, few guests had already arrived, holding champagne glasses, and gossiping in small groups.

Olivia was wearing a sunshine yellow, a-line party dress and golden strap heels. She darted around various guests, as if looking for someone in particular. Natalie's parents had already vanished.

Natalie wandered in and out of the large rooms, trying to find either Spencer, or Emily. For all she knew, Emily wasn't even invited, or didn't want to come.

Caterers were stationed in each room, holding different trays of delectable hors d'oeuvres and beverages. Each room held a variety of furniture and pictures, all of Spencer, and what looked to be, Spencer's older sister. There were even framed pictures of Spencer and her sister in school uniforms, in front of blue backgrounds, posing just so.

Natalie finally found Spencer. She was standing at the bottom of the grand staircase, wearing the coral dress, talking to a group of girls Natalie didn't recognize. Spencer noticed Natalie staring and ushered her over.

"Natalie!" she cried, smiling, her emerald eyes sparkling in the light. She motioned for Natalie to join her. "I want you to meet my friends."

Spencer pointed to a girl with soft, brown hair and brown eyes. "This is Kristen Cullen." Kristen waved shyly. After Spencer pointed to a few other girls, who were on the same field hockey team as her, Spencer led Natalie upstairs to her room. The other girls had wondered off to find their parents.

Spencer's room was even bigger than Natalie's. There were pictures taped up around her room, of Spencer playing field hockey, Spencer holding a first place Science Fair award, and lots of pictures of Spencer and her friends. There was a group shot of Spencer and four other girls, one of them being Emily, sitting in a kayak in front a sparkling, blue lake. They were all smiling, and having fun. The girl in the middle looked eerily familiar, was that…no it couldn't be. Maybe they just looked coincidentally alike? But Natalie had a sinking feeling in her gut.

Spencer noticed Natalie's suddenly pale face. "Nat, are you okay?"

Natalie turned to Spencer, and back at the photo. "I'm fine."

Spencer sighed. "I keep meaning to take that photo down. It reminds to much of her." Spencer pointed to the beautiful girl in the middle. "She was my best friend."

Natalie noticed how Spencer's voice caught in her throat. She looked away. "Alison."

Spencer looked up. "What did you just say?"

"That was her name. Alison." Natalie answered. She stared at the all to familiar heart shaped face, glossy blonde hair, and clear blue eyes.

"How do you know?" Spencer asked, wide-eyed and pale.

Natalie squeezed her eyes shut. _Darn it._ "It was all over the news. I recognized her face immediately." It was a lie, but believable.

Spencer's face returned to a normal color, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, you were friends?" Natalie asked, sitting down on the edge of Spencer's canopied bed.

Spencer shrugged and sat down next to her. "Yeah."

"Who was that other girl in the photo? Emily?" Natalie asked, cautiously. She couldn't believe shy, sweet, Emily used to be friends with outgoing Spencer.

"Emily Fields? How do you know her?" Spencer asked, picking at a hangnail.

"I met her at a coffee shop the other day. She was really…fragile. She ran out crying." Natalie said. She stood up, pretending to seem interested in a yearbook dated from last year.

"Crying? That sounds like Em. Why was she so upset?" Spencer asked.

"I asked her about Rosewood Day, and she said it would be different, and I asked her why, and she ran out crying." Natalie explained. "It was weird."

Spencer stared at the photo again, picking at the tack that was pinning it to the wall. "She's been acting strange ever since Ali, you know."

Natalie held back tears. "Oh. What about the other two girls in the photo?"

Spencer smoothed down her hair. "Hanna and Aria. Hanna went from a chubby, fashion-hungry, frizzy-haired dork, to instant queen bee. It happened this Summer. And Aria, she lives in Iceland now."

Natalie was confused. "A dork? Iceland?"

Spencer chuckled lightly. "A cute dork. She was funny, and dorky, in a fun way, but now she's…different. And Aria's dad got a teaching job, and jumped at the chance. I haven't seen her all Summer. Same with Hanna and Emily."

"Oh, wow." Had that fact that Ali went missing caused a group of friends to split up? I guess Ali really was the center of everything. "I'm so sorry."

Spencer wiped her nose on her sleeve. "It's not your fault." she stood up. "Come with me."

Spencer walked out of her bedroom and motioned for Natalie to follow. Natalie obediently agreed, following Spencer down the stairs, dodging expensive looking people, and ducking into a back hallway. "Where are we going."

Spencer giggled and covered her mouth. "I want to show you something." Spencer led Natalie into a dark room, with tons of TV monitors set up everywhere and various keypads and controllers were arranged beneath them.

"What is this?" Natalie asked as Spencer plopped into a cushy leather seat in front of the biggest monitor.

Spencer hit a few keys on the keyboard and the monitor flashed on, showing all of the guests in the living room, dancing to a Mariah Carey song. "My parents put up a bunch of surveillance cameras around the house a few years ago. We can watch the footage and they won't even know! For instance, there's one camera hidden on the TV in the living room." Spencer said motioning toward the screen. "And people just assume it's part of the sound system or something. It's genius."

Two girls stood in a corner of the living room, surrounded by a group of boys. They each held a glass of sparkling cider, and swayed rhythmically to the music. One girl had pale, blonde hair and round blue eyes, and the other had long, auburn hair that fell down her back like a waterfall. Both girls were strikingly pretty, with delicate features and prissy expressions.

"Who are they?" Natalie said, jabbing a finger at the screen.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Mona Vanderwaal and Hanna."

"The Hanna from the picture?" Natalie asked, studying the expressions on their pretty faces. Hanna had started giggling at something Mona had whispered to her.

"Yep. See how much she's changed?" Spencer said. Spencer moved the controller, and the screen changed from the living room, to Spencer's large, open kitchen.

Natalie's mother sat in a high chair, pushed up to the kitchen counter. Her father stood next to her, and across from them, were Spencer's parents.

Spencer clicked a button and they could now hear the conversation.

"This is a big change for both of the girls." Natalie could hear her father saying. "New school, new house, new people."

Spencer's mother nodded sympathetically. "That's why I threw this party, so you could get to know a few residents."

"And we thank you for your kindness. Everything you've done for us in the past few weeks has been very generous." Mrs. Ambrose said.

"Our pleasure." Mr. Hastings said. "We would do anything for the people that helped keep our secret safe."

Spencer hit the mute button. "Secret?" she whispered.

"What are they talking about?" Natalie asked.

"I don't know. But I intend to find out."

Natalie woke up at 6:00 the next morning. Today was her first day of school.

Natalie showered, changed into her Rosewood Day uniform, slipped on her pair of silver wedges, and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Ready for your first day?" Mr. Ambrose asked Natalie as she slid into her seat at the dining room table.

Natalie nonchalantly picked at the skin around her thumb. "Yeah, definitely."

Olivia came in next. She had curled her brown hair, and her skin glowed with definition. "Good morning." she pecked her father on the cheek, and ruffled Natalie's wavy, blonde hair.

"Why are you so happy?" Natalie asked Olivia as she picked her way through her breakfast of strawberry yogurt and power-bar. Olivia was usually moody, and only left her room for meals and family movie night.

Olivia shrugged. "I don't know." her phone chimed, and she smiled when she saw the sender. She giggled.

"Olivia." Mrs. Ambrose scolded. "No cell phones at the table."

Olivia rolled her eyes and stuffed her phone in her leather book bag. "Whatever." she scraped the remainder of the yogurt into her mouth and ran upstairs.

Natalie pushed back her half-eaten breakfast as well. "I should finish getting ready." Natalie treaded back upstairs, finishing her hair and brushing her teeth.

She slipped into her mother's gold merecedes-benz, and listened to music until the car pulled into the unfamiliar Rosewood Day parking lot.

The front of the school was buzzing with kids, gossiping or fiddling with their phones. Olivia stepped gracefully out of the car and walked up to a group of kids Natalie had seen her talking with at the party. Natalie exited the car, looking for Spencer, but she was no where to be seen.

"Hi." someone tapped Natalie's shoulder and she wheeled around to see who it was. It was Emily, and standing next to her was a girl with thick, dark, hair, and bright blue eyes. "This is my friend Gemma Curran, she wanted to meet you." Emily blushed and looked down at her ballet flats.

"Hi, Gemma. I'm Natalie." Natalie smiled at Gemma, and Gemma smiled back, revealing a row of braces.

Someone grabbed Natalie from behind, pulling her towards them. Natalie assumed it was Spencer, but she was wrong. It was Hanna, and her friend Mona from the party.

"You really shouldn't be talking to people like them." Hanna said, shooing Emily and Gemma away with a flick of her wrist. "I'm Hanna by the way, and this is Mona."

Mona grinned mysteriously. "You must be Natalie. I've heard _so _much about you. It's like I already know you."

Natalie tried to muster a smile. Was this really the sweet, Hanna she had seen in the photo. They looked like two completely different people.

Suddenly, the bell rang, and the crowd of kids dispersed, heading to different classes.

Natalie pulled her schedule out of her bag, following Hanna and Mona inside the school. "Hey, I have Science first period, can you show me where that is?"

Hanna turned and grinned at Natalie. "No way, so do I. I'll show you the way."

Natalie stopped at her assigned locker first, putting in books, and photos of her old friends from her old school. Then, she followed Hanna to the Science lab.

"Hey, Hanna." a boy they passed in the hallway said. He had dark, blonde hair, and deep brown eyes.

Hanna's cheeks turned pink, and she batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. "Hi, Sean. What's up?"

Sean looked at Natalie. "Who's the new girl?"

Hanna turned to Natalie, who was searching the crowd of kids for Spencer, or even Emily. Poor Emily. "This is Natalie."

Natalie turned to Sean. "Hi."

The classical music that was playing in the hallway stopped, and another bell rang. "Well, I better get to class, but I'll see you later, Han. Nice meeting you, Natalie."

Sean kept walking, and Hanna watched until he disappeared inside a classroom. "Come on, the Science lab's this way."


End file.
